Ran Away From You
by J. S. Armstrong
Summary: Arya Roberts wakes up one day in an all too familiar magic world, with no idea of how she ended up being part of one the most powerful pureblood families. Now she needs to find a way to go home without surrendering to the darkness that's after her... though helping Tom Riddle was never in her original plans.
1. Dreaming of Magic

Hello dear readers!

Alright so lately I've been reading some stories with the plot "_OC from this world goes back in time to the Harry Potter universe to save Tom Riddle_" and I've decided to do one myself. But don't worry! I do not plan to make this one like all the other stories… And I'm still not sure if I even want Tom to be saved at all.

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels. I only own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p><span>Chapter 1. Dreaming of Magic.<span>

"...and that's how it ends. Isn't it bloody stupid? I mean, the bald evil man didn't even suffer! He died because the stupid wand belonged to Potter, for heaven's sake! I wanted to see some blood, but no, everything had to end in the most ridiculous way ever! And don't even get me started with the epilogue! It was such a bunch of rubbish, all of it!"

The girl's name was Stella James, she was sitting on a school bench telling all of her friends how stupid the new Harry Potter book was, though everyone around her knew she probably hadn't even read it herself, and that she was obviously just commenting what she had heard from someone else.

Arya Roberts was sitting on a table a few meters away as she listened to everything in total silence. But under the table her fists were two hard rocks that would do anything just to be able to hit Stella right in the middle of her pretty face. Why was it that horrible and annoying people like her always had to be beautiful?

Now, Harry Potter was everything but stupid. At least that's what Arya thought. She was a little ashamed to admit it, didn't really want people to think she was a geek, but to her they were the most fantastic novels ever written. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them, and the blonde girl clearly had no idea what she was talking about.

So maybe Arya didn't like how the story ended either, but it wasn't because she considered it stupid. She knew it had to happen that way. She knew Voldemort had to die in a way that was sort of silly; only then it could be proven how much of a conceited fool he actually was, and that he wasn't as invincible as he thought. It made perfect sense if you thought about it.

But still… there had always been a small part of her that wished things had gone a little different. She could remember how she felt when she was reading the final battle, how deep inside she kept hoping for him to try for some remorse.

But of course it never happened and it had been a little disappointing if she was honest.

"So what do you think Roberts? Can you agree now that your stupid obsession is a complete waste of space?"

It was in that moment that Arya realised Stella's annoying voice was being directed to her. Stella was obviously saying all that stuff just to annoy the hell out of her; she was the only person who knew how much Harry Potter meant to Arya. After all they had been best friends for more than ten years. Of course those days had been over almost as soon they had turned thirteen and had started third form. Arya could hardly remember what their falling out had been about, but she couldn't deny it might had been her fault, she had felt so jealous of her friend and her beauty that she had ruined their relationship forever.

Not that she felt particularly guilty in that moment, after all Stella had turned into a real bitch in the few past years. They were even now.

Arya watched the blonde girl stand up from the bench and walk towards her table, where she was finishing an assignment alone.

"Piss off James," was all the brunette girl bothered to say, she didn't feel like fighting that day.

"Oh aren't we a little too grumpy today?" Stella responded mockingly. "What happened, Arya? Did you finally realise those books are just a big load of shit?"

"I said _piss off_!" Arya stood up, grabbed her handbag in an angry movement and walked away from her classmates. She was aware of how much of a drama queen she was being, but she only wanted to get as far as possible from that girl before she did something that would definitely earn her a trip to the headmaster office... again.

Boy, did she hate that woman! And the whole college as well to be fair! All the people that studied there were just too false and superficial. Or maybe she was just feeling excessively hormonal that day. She probably was just as superficial as the rest of them. And every school in the planet was probably the same.

Well except for Hogwarts. "Yeah too bad it isn't real!" Arya said to herself. She needed to set her feet down on the real world, and she also needed to be a wee more optimistic, after all this was her last year in her sixth form college.

Arya grabbed her keys that were in her handbag and walked directly to her car, it wasn't the loveliest one in the world, but at least she had a car. She didn't care about missing the last hours of class that day, after all it was the last day of the semester and she had passed all her exams. That was enough to satisfy her.

While she drove through the London streets Arya tried to come up with a reason to stay away from her house for some more hours. It wasn't that she hated her family or anything of the sorts, they were fairly alright compared to some other families, but things just hadn't been going so good since her mother died of cancer last year. Her father had been crushed at the beginning and had spent about four months locked in his office. By now he only came out to go to work and to eat. So it was basically up to Arya to take care of her seven-year-old brother, Tony.

But even so, she couldn't complain, she had a good life compared to many others and she was grateful for everything she had. And she knew life had to go on, people died every day and it wasn't that much of a special situation if you thought about it, hell even her own teachers had stopped giving her special treatment by now. That's why she hated herself for being so weak, every single moment she spent in that house just reminded her how much she missed her mother. But she knew that whining and wishing weren't going to change things. There were many people who had it worse than her, and they acted with unbelievable strength.

So at the end Arya just lowered her head in resignation and took the usual road to go home, she turned on the radio and was happy to hear The Kooks playing their cover of "_Young Folks_". Life really wasn't that bad when there was music around.

When she arrived home Arya noticed that her house was a total chaos, as always. Her brother had obviously been playing around the sitting room with his cars and trucks; and he had even built a city on top of the carpet. She smiled sweetly as she started to pick all of her brother's toys, and after she finished she went to the kitchen so she could get started with dinner.

XXXX

"So how was school today Tony?" Her father asked her brother while they were eating. "Have you been getting good marks boy?"

Arya couldn't help snorting. "Since when do you care?" Damn hormones, she was really in a mood that day.

Joseph Roberts looked back at her with a furious expression. "Don't talk to me like that! I have every right to ask my son a question!"

"No you don't!" She yelled back, even though she hated fighting with her father. She loved him very much but she was just so tired of his depressing moods. "At least not since you stopped behaving like a responsible father. You don't study with him, you don't play with him, you don't feed him… you don't even get up in the middle of the night to see why he is crying! So unless you plan to change all of that, I suggest you go back to your bloody office and stop confusing us… I mean confusing _him_ anymore!"

Joseph stood up angrily, knocking down his chair, and then left the room in a very soap opera scenario. Had the situation been other, Arya might have even laughed at this. Apparently being a drama queen ran deep in the family.

"Are you alright Tony?" She asked instead while she picked up their empty dishes and placed them in the sink.

"Yes, but Ary…" He said. "Please don't yell at him again."

She stared back at her brother and smiled sadly. The boy was an angel and sometimes it pained Arya how much he reminded her of their mother. She knew that was partly the reason why her father avoided him so much.

XXXX

It was twelve o'clock when she gazed at her clock. She had spent the past two hours reading the _Half-Blood Prince_ once again. It was her second favourite book of the saga, the first being the Chamber of Secrets. She always wondered what could have happened if Ginny had died and Voldemort had come back to life in his sixteen-year-old body… many things would have been different for sure.

She closed the book and pulled up the covers from her bed until she was completely under them. Actually her day hadn't been so bad, but she was just glad it was over. She closed her eyes and then tried to sleep.

She usually had trouble with trying to fall asleep, but that wasn't the case that night. She must have been really tired. Her last conscious thought was the image of her mother, holding her strongly in her arms.

That night she dreamed odd things. She dreamed of a majestic castle, of a woman dress in white robes, and of her brother who kept yelling in the dark, asking for her, but for some strange reason she couldn't reach him, he was so far away from her, so far away from where she laid like a corpse…

Arya woke up sweating like she had run a marathon; she had never felt so scared of a dream before, but that one had been simply horrible. She was so scared in that moment that she hadn't even realised there was another person snoring inside her room.

"Holy shit!" She swore when she finally noticed the snoring. It was also in that moment that Arya realised she was not in her room either, because her room had no stone walls, or an incredibly high ceiling for sure.

There were two big beds inside also, the types of beds one usually sees in a Dracula film and she was sitting on top of one, and in the other one there was a black-haired girl sleeping peacefully.

_'Where the hell am I?!'_ Arya thought whilst she walked towards the window, and as she looked down she felt her heart skip a beat at the bloody height. She was obviously in a tower, and a very tall one to be clear. Below the tower she could see a small lake and some mountains surrounding the entire place. '_This is clearly not London! I must be dreaming, how else would I have ended up here?'_

"Arya...?" She heard a soft voice calling her name. "Why are you awake? Is something wrong?"

The young girl that had been sleeping rose from her bed and came close to where Arya was standing paralysed. She was young, probably about eleven or twelve years old, and she had jet black hair and thick eyebrows. She was also very pale, so much that she didn't even look healthy.

Arya had no idea how this girl seemed to know her name. The only thing she knew was that this dream was getting a teensy bit too realistic for her liking.

"Arya?" The girl asked again, she seemed worried, and maybe it was because of the strange expression Arya was giving her. "Are you alright? Why are you looking at me in such a way? It's me Eileen..." She reached for her hand but Arya took a step back. Nothing made any sense.

"How do you know my name?" She finally managed to mutter. "Where am I?"

The girl named Eileen stared at her with an evident frightened expression. "What are you talking about Arya?"

But Arya just kept looking at the girl, waiting for her to explain the strange situation. She knew she was about to explode if someone didn't explain.

"You are scaring me! Don't you know who I am? It's me your sister Eily… Eileen Prince!" She screamed with a desperate tone, as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

"Sister! I don't have a sis..."

And that's when she realised something was really wrong. She had heard, or rather read that name before in one of her books.

Eileen Prince… was Snape's bloody mother! A witch from the Harry Potter world! That was it. She had finally lost it…

"Fuck!"

Arya did not know when exactly she started to run. She was only half conscious of opening a wood door and running through some dark hallways. She had no idea where she was going but she still didn't stop, she had to get away from the girl who was obviously not sane.

Or maybe she was the one who had lost her head…

After running like a crazy person for a while Arya noticed she was lost. She had reached the end of a corridor where an enormous red door glowered over her. She hesitated briefly and then decided to open it.

Inside the room she found a library with many tables and two red sofas. She walked towards the nearest table where she found something that looked like a newspaper; she took it and with all her courage she gazed back at it…

**27th August 1944**

**The Daily Prophet**

The date was the last thing she saw before some strange force knocked her down to the floor, leaving her unconscious once more.


	2. The Prince Family

So here is the second chapter. The main purpose for this chapter is just to clear some small details and to give a proper entrance to the story.

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels; I just own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p><span>Chapter 2. The Prince Family.<span>

The first thing that Arya realised when she woke up was that her hands and legs were tied up to something. Trying really hard not to panic she opened her eyes to see if she could understand what the hell was going on.

She was apparently tied to a bed, and she was also back in the room she had woken up last night. Arya couldn't tell how long she had been unconscious because the blue curtains on the window were completely shut; she had no way of knowing what time it was.

Arya looked around the room, searching for an escape route; but taking her current _position_ into consideration, it was highly improbable to succeed, even if she could come up with a good plan.

She tried to remember what had happened the night before, well apart from the shocking realisation that she had somehow ended in the nineteen bloody forties!

She thought she could recall how someone had knocked her unconscious last night… and whoever that had been was probably also at fault for the binds around her wrists and ankles.

She tried to remember what the girl had said to her, Arya had been surprised because she had called her by her own name, and she seemed to know her as well… but then again the crazy girl had also said they were sisters, which was of course totally ridiculous.

And then the girl had said her name was Eileen Prince! A Harry Potter character, imagine that! But the worst part was that damn newspaper with the big black title that read "THE DAILY PROPHET".

Whoever wanted to trick her had obviously gone too far with it. It was ingenious, but not funny.

Everything was just so wrong. The ties were starting to hurt her, which only proved to Arya that the pain was too real for everything to be just a stupid dream. That only left her with the second more logical conclusion: she had finally lost her freaking mind. It didn't help that she also felt… strange. She had felt it from the moment she woke up in this "world"; it was as if something was really wrong deep inside of her. For some reason it made her feel like she wasn't alone and that scared her.

However the feeling ceased out of the sudden as the door opened, and behind it appeared the girl from last night and a boy that seemed to be around Arya's age

"Arya you are awake!" She cried happily. "We were so worried about you!"

Eileen and the boy entered the room until they were standing right beside her bed. Some of the pain she was feeling probably showed in her face because Eileen then started to cry.

"Oh Ary I'm terribly sorry… but I had to tell father and mother! You were acting so strange and we were afraid you'll do something foolish! Cadell and I begged father not to tie you to the bed, but he said that it was for the best, that we didn't knew what you were capable of doing in such a state."

"Yes, what happened to you Ary?" The boy whose name was probably Cadell said with a worrying expression on his face. "Are you feeling alright now?"

It was then that an idea appeared Arya's mind. It was so obvious that she wanted to hit herself for not thinking of it before. If she kept acting _strange_ they would never untie her. They would think her crazy and she would never have the opportunity to run away; clearly the best idea was to play along until she had a better plan.

"Yes I think I'm feeling fine now. I'm sorry but what happened last night? I don't quite remember... _Eily_." She hated playing dumb but as long as it was necessary…

"Oh Ary you didn't seem to recognise me or anything else! And then you started to run through the house until father caught you! It was awful. You really don't remember?

"No" She lied for the second time. "Well the last thing I remember was waking up in the middle of the night to go get some water… but then I think I fell to the floor and hit my head pretty hard." Arya finished with her story, hoping that it sounded convincing.

"That must have been what caused you to lose your memory!" Cadell said as if he had just discovered America. "I'll go tell father that you're alright now."

As Cadell left Eileen turned to look at her intensively. "I was really worried Arya. I mean, for a second I thought you were going to have to miss your first day at Hogwarts. And we both know how much you have been waiting for that day to come since father and mother told you they would stop teaching us at home."

Arya's eyes illuminated immediately_. 'Hogwarts! I could go to Hogwarts if I stay here!' _She felt a big smile appearing on her face, but then she remembered something else._ 'But what about my brother? I can't leave him alone with our father... But then again I don't even know how to go back… Shit! I don't even know how I got here in the first place, what I'm going to do?'_

"Arya are you even listening to me?" Eileen said impatiently.

"Oh yes I'm sorry! I was just thinking, you know, about going to Hogwarts and everything. Pretty exciting right? Hey do you know if _father _will come soon? I'm starting to lose the sensibility of my extremities."

Just then Cadell came back and with him was a very scary looking man. He was tall, and he had long black hair that reached his shoulders which were covered in a dark blue cloak. Arya supposed that he was Mr. Prince. The man walked towards her until he was at the side of her bed, looking at her from above.

"Cadell tells me you are feeling well now... Have you come back to your senses daughter?" He said with a severe voice which left no doubt that Snape and he were indeed related.

Arya simply stared back at him until she decided what could be a proper answer. "Yes... sir! I'm feeling alright now, I think I just hit my head very hard last night. I'm sorry to have caused you all so much trouble."

Mr. Prince appeared to be considering it all for a second, until he finally reached under his cloak and got his wand out. Arya felt afraid of what he may do to her with it, but then he made a swift movement with it and the binds around her wrists and ankles untied themselves.

That was the first time she had ever seen anyone do magic, her mind couldn't believe what her eyes were registering.

"Get up!" Mr. Prince ordered in a voice that made her tremble, this man made her own real father look like a real saint. "You need to start packing your things to go to Hogwarts. And make yourself presentable. Your mother invited the Blacks over."

And with those last words he left the room. Arya got up from her bed, happy to be able to move again. She didn't like that man too much. He was obviously a very strict father, especially if he had the habit of tying his offspring to beds when they didn't obey him.

"The Blacks huh?" Arya asked her two _siblings_ who were now sitting on top of Eileen's bed. "Tell me Eily, what exactly did he meant by _presentable_?"

Cadell suddenly started laughing "Why, Ary! You don't plan to do something as embarrassing as what you did with the Notts, now do you?"

Arya looked at the smiling boy with a bizarre smirk. She had no idea what the Arya from this world might be like but at least she didn't seem like complete snob.

"Don't even dare Arya!" Eileen yelled abruptly, and stood up in a rush. "If you do something foolish you will jeopardize your studies at Hogwarts. Please just try to behave for one night Ary. You don't want to spend the rest of your life inside the manor, now do you?

Like hell she didn't! Everything she wanted was to go home, but she had no idea how to do that. Maybe, just maybe if she went to Hogwarts and she looked for Dumbledore, then he might be able to help her find a way home. So behaving tonight was extremely necessary.

"Alright Eily ease up. I swear I won't do anything stupid." She said as she headed towards what she supposed was her wardrobe.

"What do you mean by ease up? You are talking a bit too strange Ary..."

The black-haired girl ignored her as she opened the wardrobe to encounter the biggest collection of garments she had ever seen. "Brilliant..." She said with excitement and then she started to take out some dresses. She needed to find a proper outfit for tonight, and she also needed to pack some clothes for school. But as soon as she gave them a second look she felt the colour drain from her face once again. '_What were you expecting Arya? Jeans and trainers?' _She sighed and thought it could have been worst. At least she wasn't in the medieval ages, compared to that time the fashion of the forties didn't seem so terrible.

"Cadell" She said to her _brother_. "Get out, Eily and I need to change."

"Alright, alright. Besides, I was planning to go looking for Tassy. I'm really hungry, and that elf just makes the best food in all Britain. Do you ladies want anything?"

"No, but thank you Cade." Eily said politely. "I've to save some space in my stomach for dinner or mother will be furious."

"Food!" Arya said excitedly while her stomach roared like a lion. "Oh well, tell you what. Why don't I go down with you for some food and then I'll come back to get ready."

"But Ary..."

"Don't worry Eily, I'm like Wonder Woman, I can get ready in only seconds!"

Arya hadn't even said those last words when she was already out in the hallway with Cadell at her side.

"So where's little Tassy?" Arya asked as her stomach kept making noises.

"I don't know for sure." Cadell said as they went down some stairs. "But she's probably in the kitchens, let's go check."

But the kitchens were not down the stairs like Arya thought. As matter of fact it appeared like they were probably in another country. Arya couldn't believe how huge that house was, she could swear it felt like they had been walking for days, and truth be told, the silence was getting a little awkward.

"So Cadell I supposed you're happy to have finished... _last year_?" She said suddenly remembering that she had no idea how old he was, or what year was he in. But Cadell didn't seem to notice her uncertainty.

"Oh yes, I don't think I can be happy enough to be finally in our seventh year. I'm sure we'll have lots of fun together at school, especially since we'll share many classes. I wonder what house they'll put you in."

So he was a seventh year... and so was she. Were they actually twins? They certainly didn't look like it. Cadell was apparently the only blonde in the Price family, though she still hadn't seen the mother, and his eyes were a dark chocolate that matched his tan skin, Arya by the contrary was very pale like Eileen, and had blue eyes.

Arya noticed that the boy was waiting for an answer, so she said the first thing about Hogwarts houses that you can expect in a _noble _Pure-Blood family.

"Well I hope they put me in Slytherin. I don't know what father and mother will say if it does not turn out that way."

"You want to be in Slytherin!" Cadell said completely shocked, making her think that she had said something wrong. "I mean, you from all people! Besides since when have you cared about pleasing our parents?"

He stopped walking and opened a door to his right, and luckily for Arya's stomach they had finally arrived to the kitchens.

"Besides, you shouldn't worry about not being placed in Slytherin that much. Father didn't react as badly as I expected when I turned out to be a Hufflepuff."

_'So he is a Hufflepuff! No wonder he is so nice...' _Arya thought as she smiled at the boy.

"I'm sorry that we had to take that long journey to the kitchens Ary, I could hear your stomach grumble." He apologised with a sympathetic smile. "But is just that if Ganieda caught us going to the Kitchens before her precious dinner, she we'll probably lock us down in the dungeons for a month." He grabbed a muffin from the table. "Tassy!"

Arya was beyond confusion._ 'Who's Ganieda?! Is she another sibling?' _But Arya decided not to ask, unless she wanted her sanity to be in jeopardise again. She would have to figure it out on her own.

But first she needed to eat.

A small creature wearing a pink dress entered the kitchen, she was the most curious being that Arya had ever seen, and she looked exactly the same way the girl had always imagined house-elves to be.

"Little Mistress and little Master! What a pleasure! Tassy will attend you in anything wish."

Arya and her stomach couldn't be any happier about that.

XXXX

It was seven o'clock in the manor, and the Blacks were about to arrive at any moment. Arya and Eileen had spent the last minutes fixing their hairs and choosing the right dresses.

"Well I believe I'm done." Arya said after finishing with her makeup. She walked to her bed and took a last gaze at the suitcase that was lying on top of it. "I think I'm done with the packing too. Shall we go down now Eily?"

Eileen turned to look at her sister with her eyes wide open. "Ary! You look beautiful!"

Arya smiled to her and walked towards the mirror. She didn't know if the precise word was beautiful but she unquestionably didn't feel ugly. Of course, most of the forties' clothes weren't what she would have selected to wear on a casual day or in a night out. But at least the formal dresses weren't so bad. They actually fitted her pretty well, like if she indeed belonged in this time.

Then there was a 'PUFF' noise in their bedroom and Tassy appeared behind the smoke scaring Arya to the bones. "Mistresses your mother is calling for you. She wants the whole family to be there to receive the guests, therefore she sent Tassy to inform you."

"We'll be down in a minute Tassy, please do tell mother." Eily said putting on her dark blue shoes.

"As you wish, miss." The elf said disappearing again.

"Jesus isn't there any privacy left in the world." Arya sighed as she recovered from the shock of the sudden appearance. She was still not used to magic happening around her.

"Let's go Ary. We don't want to anger mother anymore."

Arya had yet to meet the matriarch of the Prince family, and by gathering all the things the other members said of her, she was probably nothing like Molly Weasley. The two girls went down the principal stairs and into the vestibule, where they were to receive the Blacks.

The vestibule was an enormous chamber with many doors at its sides, and a couple of sofas on the opposing walls. There was a big spider candelabrum attached to the black high ceiling. Of course, it would have been a beautiful place if it didn't look so dark and lifeless as the rest of the manor.

Standing at the side of the door by one of the couches, she saw three people. Mr. Prince, Cadell, and an old woman who she supposed was the famous Mrs. Prince. She had long black hair, and a skin paler than hers or Eileen's. This really made her wonder about Cadell who didn't look like anyone in the family.

"Girls…" She said when they came closer. "You look wonderfully charming. I'm sure the Blacks will approve of you. Perhaps, if you are fortunate, one of you may even go to Hogwarts with an engagement agreement."

Not even a minute had passed in her presence and Arya already didn't like the woman. She knew she tended to misjudge people all the time but how was she not supposed when they acted like total snobs.

"Have you lost your mind Ganieda?" Cadell yelled, surprising even Arya with his lack of respect. "Eileen is only eleven. I don't believe she should be worrying about that sort of things until she's a lot older."

"Don't you dare speak to me in such a manner you spoiled boy! Besides only Odard and I have the right to decide when will our daughters be ready for such things!" Ganieda said angrily, and for a moment Arya thought that she was going slap him. There was something going on that she was not aware off. It was as if Cadell and Ganieda were not even related.

"Enough!" Odard Prince said with his 'Snape' voice, interrupting the new discussion between his wife and child. "The Blacks have arrived."

And before anyone had the chance to ask how he knew that, the doorbell chimed, and the family did their best to organise themselves in a perfect line whilst Ganieda opened the door to receive their guests.


	3. Foes and Friends

Yes yes I've been gone for quite a while I know. My only excuse is that I got caught up in life, and I simply stopped reading and writing fanfiction. As a matter of fact I haven't visited this website since around early 2012.

So as some of you old readers may have noticed, I did actually split the second chapter into two, mostly because it was way too long. So yeah this isn't really a completely new chapter just the second part of the last one. I did however change quite a few things in all the chapters because they were just too terrible and I couldn't even bear to read them.

I'll probably be posting the next chapter between tonight and tomorrow. Oh and it would be good (though not necessary) for you old readers to go through the whole story again because of the details I changed, but you don't have to do it if you don't want to.

Anyways to all of you who were wondering if Tom is in this chapter... I'm glad to announce that he is. Though, he only makes a brief appearance, sorry about that.

Hope you like this chapter, and that you review if you have some time.

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels; I just own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p>Chapter 3. Foes and Friends<p>

The Blacks where even more screwed up than the Princes, at least in Arya's first impression. There were six of them. The parents who looked as old as a pair of ancient mummies were the ones on the front, and then behind them were three boys and one girl. They all looked like as if there wasn't anything more tedious than being alive.

"Pollux, Irma!" Ganieda's voice greeted them with a luring tone. "What a pleasure to have you in our house, please do come in."

The Blacks stepped in and Ganieda proceeded to direct them to the sitting room. Once they had all sat down and Tassy had been called to attend them an awkward silence took over.

"Ganieda dear…" Mrs. Black said cutting the silence with her stuck up voice. "Has your invitation arrived yet?"

Ganieda laid down the tea cup she was holding and smile pleasantly "Oh yes Irma, we are indeed honoured about the invitation and also very glad for the new soon to be couple."

"Yes preparations are in progress as we speak. It will be the wedding of the century!"

Then unexpectedly one of the boys snorted with sarcasm, calling everyone's attention.

"Is something wrong Alphard?" The boy's father asked in a serious tone. Arya immediately looked at him, not believing she hadn't noticed the resemblance before. He looked almost exactly like the picture of Sirius she had in her head.

The boy named Alphard lifted his grey eyes to look at his demanding progenitor. "No father, everything is alright, I apologise for interrupting your conversation."

His apology was the most ironic one Arya had ever heard; however, Mr Black didn't seemed to notice it, as he return his attention to the new and boring conversation that Ganieda had started about the importance of appetisers.

Arya decided to examine the boy a little more. The famous Alphard Black had been a member of the "Noble House of Black" until he was disowned for helping his blood traitor nephew, Sirius Black. Alphard was very handsome. He had long black hair, and also possessed a pretty smile. He seemed to be almost as tall as his father.

"Arya" It was then that she realised her '_mother'_ was speaking to her. "Why don't you and your siblings show the house to Alphard, Cygnus, Orion and Walburga?

Arya turned around to look at the Blacks and then tried to conjure the sweetest smile she could muster for Ganieda.

"Sure, it would be my pleasure," she said standing up from her seat, and heading towards the marble door.

Once they were all outside, and far away from the parents, all hell broke loose.

"I do not wish to walk all the way around this... house! And especially with a Hufflepuff as your filthy brother!" Walburga exclaimed pointing a finger at Cadell. "You Princes think you know about being blood worthy but you are all just a joke to the wizarding society."

Arya looked at girl with a shocked expression, never having met anyone so rude. "What the bloody hell is your problem?!" Arya said back, calmed but bewildered at the situation. However Walburga overreacted a little at her choice of words.

"You! How dare you speak to me in such a horrible manner?!"

"Well you are the one calling my family a joke to society." Arya said defending herself. "So if you do not wish to walk with us the "unworthy" then you are more than welcome to take your stuck up arse in another direction!"

She saw Walburga's face contort with anger. "Come on Orion let's get away from these... animals!" She said grabbing her fiancé by the wrist and walking towards the hallway door.

As soon as they were gone Arya sighed deeply._ 'Sirius was right about his family!'_

"Alright. Anyone else has a problem with my family?" She said staring suspiciously at the other Black boys.

"No!" Alphard said quickly while his youngest brother simply moved his head with fear. "As a matter of fact, I want to apologise for my sister's behaviour. But what can I tell you, she… well… She was born with a stick up her arse. Can't help herself, the poor thing."

Arya started to laugh. He must have been the first person to make a joke in this strange universe. He seemed like someone she might be friends with. However Cadell kept staring at him with some distrust.

"I'm Arya." She introduced herself and held up her hand to him who shook it happily. "And these are my siblings, Cadell and Eileen."

"Yes I know your brother." He said letting go of her hand. "Well I'm Alphard and this is my little brother Cygnus."

Cygnus looked a lot like his brother, though he wasn't as handsome. He had the same black hair and dark eyes, and he appeared to be about fourteen or maybe fifteen years old.

"I heard you are finally going to Hogwarts this year." Alphard continued with the conversation. "You're going to love it! It's like paradise you know; no parents telling you how to eat, talk, or breathe. It's fantastic."

She smiled at him as they started to walk with no direction and he just kept talking about all the great things that Hogwarts could offer.

The night with the Blacks continued in an almost calmed peace. Alphard and Arya talked the whole night about all the ways one could get in trouble at school, whilst Cadell, Eileen, and Cygnus kept a dead silence as they followed them around. Dinner also went quite swell, that is if you looked apart the little incident where Walburga's meat soup exploded in her face.

Not that Alphard had anything to do with that of course.

XXXX

The rest of the days in the Prince Household went by faster than she expected. On her second night there she discovered that she could indeed do magic when. Which was probably just a thing of this universe because when Arya was twelve she remember grabbing her plastic wand with the intention of turning a bunch of rocks into chocolates, but the only thing she had done with it was almost poking Stella's eye out.

Nevertheless, she was still very afraid. The small insignificant fact that she was to go to Hogwarts in the 1940s hadn't slipped her mind. She knew that many dangerous things happened during that time.

And then there was also the mystery that surrounded her existence here. Arya knew now for sure that this was not a dream, and neither was it the product of her imagination… and hopefully it wasn't the effect of consuming certain illegal substances, not that she remembered doing that!

No. This was real. She had decided it had to be real when she tried to use the Floo Network and had ended burning her hand. It had really hurt.

So why was she here? Had she died in the other world? She had tried to think of every possible reason, but all the explanations were as unlikely as a flying pony… which probably existed in here.

The First of September arrived before she had time to psychologically prepare herself for it. The day saw Arya, Cadell, and Eily standing at the platform nine and three-quarters, exactly where their parents had left them a few moments before.

"Amazing!" Both Arya and Eily gasped, looking at the train with matching wide eyes.

"Yes I told you it was fantastic." Cadell smirked. "And wait until you see the castle. Come on let's get on the train girls."

But as they were boarding the train someone yelled at Cadell.

"Oi little _Princess_! You're back this year? I thought we had made ourselves very clear that you were not welcome here." The boy was tall, and had short red hair that glowed as fire. He seemed to be about Arya's and Cadell's age and judging by his arrogance and his cocky tone, he was probably a Slytherin.

"Piss off Mulciber! Is not like you own Hogwarts." Cadell grumbled making Arya feel proud of her brother's bravery.

"It will be one day little Princess." Mulciber said so sure of himself that Arya couldn't help snorting, honestly couldn't the boy hear himself?

"And who might you be?" He said his voice and face changing completely. "I haven't seen you around? Are you knew, pretty girl?"

"Unbelievable." Arya muttered with annoyance. She could never get guys she liked to turn their heads for her like Stella always did, but she could sure call this git's attention. She couldn't help making a face. He wasn't ugly but somehow she couldn't see him in any other way than as a disgusting worm. "Why don't we keep looking for a compartment Cade?" She took hold of Eily's hand and pulled them in the other direction. "Smells like shit here anyway…"

Arya counted in her head, knowing the boy couldn't be so stupid to not understand her offensive comment._ '1...2...3...'_

"What? You little-!" He said reaching for his wand, as he finally got what she meant. Arya stepped away from him a little afraid, she wasn't prepared to duel, she could hardly do magic!

"Enough of that Darrence. Lower your wand. I don't believe Slytherin needs to lose any points before the term even starts just because you can't control your pride."

A commanding voice had interrupted them, saving Arya from Mulciber's possible painful spell, she felt like thanking whoever it was.

Arya turned to look at her saviour and her heart started beating faster than usual at the sight of his perfect angular face. She sighed heavily as she realised who that man probably was.

"My L… Tom." Mulciber corrected himself, as he noticed Riddle's warning eyes on him. "This girl here!" He pointed at Arya with indignity. "Insulted me!"

"Oh did she now?" Riddle turned to look at her, but Arya was way too angry at the other boy.

"I insulted you, you say! You big piece of-"

"Miss!" Tom Riddle's voice shut her up. "I said it was enough. I don't care what happened. Now you and your companions better leave before I change my mind. Darrence, a word with you please."

Cadell and Eily started to move but Arya stayed there, obviously having suicidal thoughts. She knew she was being stupid, but it was like having verbal vomit, she could not help herself. "Oh please it's not like you can take points from my non existing house or anything."

Riddle, who had been speaking to Mulciber, turned his head back at her with obvious surprise.

"What?" His voice was full of arrogance and he smiled coldly. "Listen to me girl, I don't know who you are, and clearly you don't know who I'm either. So let me enlighten you. I'm the Head Boy and if I say you stay a whole week cleaning the bathrooms, you will. No matter if you have a house or not. It's that clear?"

He said all that without yelling. His voice was like the calm before the storm, and that's what scared Arya, not his words or his threat.

"Alright calm down…" She said backing off and she disappeared out of his sight before he had a chance to react.

Arya shook her head as she ran away from the scene, Cade and Eily chasing after her. Did she have some subconscious wish to die or something? When she decided that Hogwarts might be her only way out if this world she had also decided that staying away from the future Voldemort was the best thing she could do.

She wonder what would happen if she died in this world. All she had to do now was to go to Dumbledore and he would fix everything up. She was sure of it.

And maybe if she stayed away from that wizard psychopath as she had originally planned, then she wouldn't have to worry about dying either.


	4. Accepting Reality

Well here it is just like I promised. Enjoy, and hope you have time to review!

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels. I only own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p><span>Chapter 4. Accepting Reality.<span>

"Do you have the slightest idea of who you just insulted?" Cadell asked her the moment they were safe inside a compartment. Arya feigned ignorance and confusion, even though she knew a lot better than Cadell how incredibly stupid and impulsive she had been.

"That was Tom Riddle, Arya! He is the Head Boy, and well… people just don't mess around with him. There's something really wrong with that boy, he makes my skin crawl every time!"

She couldn't help herself. "Well Cade it seems like you fancy the bloke," Arya teased him with a smirk printed on her face, and Cadell immediately turned red. Eileen chuckled with Arya.

"Arya Merida Prince! He is a _man_ for merlin's sake!" Cadell gasped with a lot of indignation, which only made Arya's smile wider. People in the forties were so uptight it was sort of funny. And besides at least she now knew her second name, she wasn't expecting that bit of information.

But at the end Arya didn't even bother to reply back, so the conversation soon died out.

Time seemed to pass slowly. The train ride turned out to be fairly longer than she had expected. She had done about everything to keep herself entertained, like playing all sorts of games with Eileen while Cadell read a book about werewolves, or counting every drop of rain that touched their window. Patience had never been one of her virtues.

It was around drop number two hundred and forty that she realised how much she missed her mp3 player in that moment. She had never considered herself to be a technology dependant individual, but she was surely going to die of boredom in this decade if that turned out to be the case.

After a while, Arya felt her eyelids drop as if they were made of stone. She was just about to fall asleep when suddenly the compartment door busted open, and behind it appeared two dark silhouettes. Arya opened her eyes to see who was going to bother them now.

She regretted doing it a moment later, though, because Tom Riddle was standing right there with a redheaded girl by his side.

"You are supposed to have changed by now." The ginger said with surprise as she gazed upon the trio's clothes.

"And you are?" Arya asked sounding ruder than she intended, but she didn't like people bossing her around, and especially when she was so exhausted.

"Oh I'm sorry!" The girl said to her with a gracious and kind voice. "My name is Miriam Dolohov and I'm the Head Girl. And this is Tom Riddle, the Head Boy." Arya did everything she could to ignore the famous dark wizard, and she was surprised to see the girl wearing a Gryffindor uniform. After all, the Dolohov name was one she could recognise easily, and Arya always thought they would be like the Black family; all of them a bunch of prejudiced Slytherins.

"You must be new here." Dolohov continued saying with a slight smile which Arya tried to return.

Cadell was the one that introduced them though. "Yes Miriam, this is my sister Arya. I believe I told you about her and how she has been home schooled for the past years. Oh! And this one here is our little sister Eileen, she's a first year."

"I've always wanted to meet your family Cade," the Head Girl said grinning as she stepped closer to Eileen who smiled shyly. Miriam kneeled down to be at the same height. "You must be so excited. Hogwarts is the best place in the whole universe. You are going to love it Eileen!"

"Miss Dolohov," Riddle called the girl's attention with a polite voice, but Arya knew he was probably just annoyed to be there in the first place.

"Oh right, I almost forgot!" Miriam said out of the sudden as she stood up once again. She took three scrolls from the insides of her robes and handed them to each one of them. "Here, we're supposed to give one of this to every student. Oh! And could you please sign this parchment too so Dippet knows you got the notification?" When she finished talking Riddle passed them a list which contained all the other student's names who had already signed. Arya tried not to look at him as she grabbed the parchment.

For a millisecond she almost signed as Arya Roberts, but luckily she caught herself in time and then managed to turn the 'R' into the 'P' for Prince. She looked around to see if someone had noticed, but Cade, Miriam and Eileen were too absorbed in their own conversation, and Riddle was looking past her with an impatient expression on his handsome face. Sighing with relief she handed the scroll to Cadell, and then proceeded to read the notification she had in her hand.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

**IMPORTANT NOTICE**

**Due to the muggle and magical war that has been affecting our world; certain new security measures will apply for this school year in order to maintain the safety of our community.**

***Hogsmade trips have been cancelled until further notice.**

***The Floo Network has been closed down by the ministry. Any attempt to use it will put the individual under immediate arrest.**

***No student will be allowed outside the school's terrains under any circumstance.**

***Letters and any other type of mail will be submitted to inspection. No exceptions.**

***All students will now assist mandatory classes of duelling and enchanted protection methods against muggle and magic air raids.**

***All students must send this notification to their respective parents or guardians for their signature, and then they will proceed to show them to their respective Heads of House. Whoever fails to do so will face severe consequences.**

It was all ridiculously strict. "Well at least the war will end very soon…" Arya muttered to herself after she finished reading it, not realising anyone else had heard her.

"And how do you happen to know this, Miss Prince?" Tom Riddle's cold voice said with a hint of amusement. Arya cursed under her breath, she would have to be more careful with her words in the future.

"I… I just have faith in my nation's armed forces?" But Riddle, of course, seemed suspicious of her lame excuse, especially because it had sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Muggle forces would never be able to end this war, not as long as Grindelwald and his army are behind it all." He said with assertion, as he snatched the parchment from Cadell's shaky hands. "Miss Dolohov, I believe we must continue if we want to be done with this before we arrive at Hogsmade."

"Yes, of course!" Miriam said out of the sudden. She then turned back to face Cadell and Eileen. "Well it was nice talking to you Cade. And it was a pleasure meeting you Eily… and you too Arya."

Arya smiled slightly at the girl as she and Riddle exited their compartment, she was just happy to have survived the meeting, his presence really made her nervous.

"I supposed we should change now." Cadell said taking his uniform out. "I will go outside to give you some space."

Arya nodded distractedly as she also took out her uniform. To her horror she had to wear a grey gymslip with a pleaded skirt underneath her robe. No trousers as an alternative or anything! Being a girl in this era was a real pain in the arse.

"Can't wait for the feminist revolution to happen…" Arya said in annoyance as she started to put on her uniform.

"The what?" Eileen's high pitched voice said behind her. After fighting with her white blouse Arya turned around, and noticed Eileen was already fully dressed, with tights, shoes, and everything!

"What the hell…?"Arya exclaimed, not believe what her eyes saw. "How did you…? Ugh never mind." She sighed in resignation; she was just a really lousy female.

Fifteen minutes later she had finally managed to get all her clothes on the right place, and soon after that the train started to slow down.

Both girls turned around when the compartment door opened again.

"Good you're ready now. You took quite a while to change…" Cadell said with a mocking smirk and already in his uniform too.

"Yes very funny. I would like to see you trying to put on these stupid tights!" Arya responded. "Where were you anyway?"

"I was just chatting with some friends." He explained as he stepped inside and then grabbed his trunk. "And thankfully we have finally arrived, I don't know about you girls but I'm starving."

"You're always starving Cadell." Eileen stated with a smile as she also pulled out her trunk and together the three of them left their compartment behind.

Outside the train the prefects were leading the rest of the students towards the carriages. Arya gaped at them and was surprised to discover she could not see the Threstals that were pulling them. It was strange because she had been right at her mother's side when she passed away on the hospital bed. She had seen dead so why couldn't she see the horse like creatures?

"Yes the carriages pull themselves Ary," Cade said misunderstanding her confused look for amazement.

Shaking her head to disperse her thoughts, Arya followed her brother as he climbed onto the closest carriage. She was at Hogwarts, the last thing she needed was thinking of her mother's death.

Inside the carriage Arya found three other people aside from Cadell. One of them was the Head Girl that had talked to her on the train; Miriam she believed was her name, and she was now muttering something to the dark skinned girl sitting next to her in a very uptight position. The last passenger was a strawberry blonde boy who seemed to be discussing Quidditch with Cadell as if it was a matter of life and death.

Miriam looked up at her the moment she entered and Arya was glad to see the girl smiling politely at her.

"Arya come sit next to us," she said and then proceeded to introduce the rest of the students. "This is my best friend Aurora Sinistra," she pointed at the other girl "and this is Ignatius Prewett" The boy turned his head to look around the moment he heard his own name and then his eyes landed on Arya and he smiled too.

"Hey Ary nice to see you again," he simply said and then went back to his conversation with Cadell.

Arya sat down next to Miriam and briefly observed the Prewett boy with curiosity. If she wasn't mistaken he was somewhat related to the Weasleys, but right then she was too tired to remember how exactly.

"So are you excited?" Miriam said to her once the carriage started to move.

Arya though the world 'excited' couldn't even begin to describe what she was feeling in that moment, but she decided it would be weird to explain why so she simply smiled at the girl and said yes.

"Well you will be fine, don't worry. Though you'll probably get sorted before the first years… or maybe after."

Arya felt a not in her stomach as she heard Miriam's words. She hadn't thought about the sorting at all. If there was one thing she really hated was being the focus of a crowd. At school she had always failed those assignments where she had to talk in front of the class, even going as far as vomiting once right in the middle of one.

"Can't they just sort me in private, maybe in a classroom or something?" She asked trying to calm her nerves by breathing deeply.

"That's a ridiculous idea," the girl named Sinistra said with coldness and Arya was glad the dark shadows hid well her red cheeks. She didn't even have time to reply as the carriage suddenly stopped.

The boys were the first to get out and then the two girls followed, leaving Arya all alone. The emotion running through her veins was hard to express. There was still a part of her that couldn't believe all this was happening.

"You can do this," she assured herself and with one last deep inhalation she jumped out of the carriage.

It was everything she had ever imagined and everything she had not at the same time. It was perfection… and it completely took her breath away.

"It's quite a sight isn't it?" she heard Miriam say to her but she could not tear her eyes apart from the majestic castle in front of her.

And she knew then, she knew deep inside her that it had to be real, because no dream or hallucination could ever be so beautiful.


	5. Introductions and Observations

A big "thank you!" to all the readers who have reviewed this story, and also to the ones who have added it to their favourites and followings. I'm so glad you're liking it.

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels. I only own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p><span>Chapter 5. Introductions and Observations.<span>

With every step she took inside the castle Arya marvelled more and more at its beauty. But it was hard to observe the details as the rest of the student body kept pushing her towards the Great Hall, they were all probably in a hurry to get to the food, and Arya couldn't deny she was also starving.

She was being pushed around on all her sides when a hand grabbed her shoulder. Arya turned around only to find herself face to face with the man she wanted to see the most.

"Miss Prince I'm please to finally make your acquaintance. I'm professor Dumbledore and I teach transfiguration," his smile brightened his blue eyes, and it made Arya feel safe for the first time since she had arrived to that world.

"Hullo," she muttered completely speechless at his sight, but Dumbledore didn't stop smiling.

"Well Miss Prince I'm here to inform you that your sorting will take place before the first years' sorting," Arya felt her heart skip a beat at this, she really didn't want to go through that. Her distress must have shown on her face for Dumbledore immediately tried to reassure her. "Oh do not worry my dear, it's hardly as terrible as you are imagining. Now if you will please follow me."

Arya noticed then that they were all alone now; the majority of the students must have gone inside the Great Hall already. Then Arya remembered she needed to explain her situation to Dumbledore, he was the only who could ever help her.

"Professor there is something I really need to discuss with you…" Arya said while she followed him through the hallways until they reached the great double door at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"Later perhaps, Miss Prince," he said about to open the door. "You could come by my office any time you like this week, but I'm afraid right now we're on a very tight schedule." And with those last words he opened the doors and Arya was in awe once again.

It was exactly how the book had described it. The whole place was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. And dear god was the ceiling quite something! Arya could swear she was staring into the heavens as she took in the velvety black ceiling dotted with thousands of stars.

A few faces were looking at her at the entrance but most of the students' attention was fixed on the headmaster who seemed to be in the middle of some sort of speech. She tried to listen to his words.

"… as I am obliged to remind you the importance for such rules. Anyone who dares to disobey them will be facing expulsion. We are confident that our forces are stronger than Grindelwald's and that this war will end shortly, but on the meantime you must comply with the procedures." Professor Dippet was an old man of pale complexion, brown eyes and, thick beard that was almost completely white, or at least that's what he looked like from where Arya was standing. Dippet's eyes fell on hers momentarily. "In other news, we also have a new seventh year student that needs to be sorted. Please Miss Arya Merida Prince if you may…" he pointed towards the stool with the sorting hat on top, and Arya felt a lump on her throat.

Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at her, and with a gesture of his hand he signalled her to follow him inside the hall. With every step she took she felt even more nervous. What would happen if the hat could tell that she wasn't really Arya Prince? All faces were now looking at her and it only made the situation worse, she wanted to yell at them to mind their own business, but that would only make her look like a crazy person.

The short walk felt like an eternity to her but sooner than she would have liked she was sitting on the stool and Dumbledore was placing the old hat on her head.

_"Well well what do we have here?" _Arya froze completely, for she knew then for sure that the hat knew the whole truth about her. _ "How intriguing your case is… what I'm going to do with you…there is bravery in your heart and a deep desire to help others, but there is also some ambition… oh and you're so envious of the people who possess better luck than yours, how strange! What to do? What to do?" _Was he going to put her in Slytherin? She had never thought of herself as a Slytherin… but did it really bother her? She knew she sometimes tended to be envious and spiteful towards certain people but it wasn't completely her fault. Everyone thought they deserved better right? And she was only human.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

A sonorous applause surrounded her as she made her way to the Gryffindor table, her heart beating insanely fast and her mind still in shock. Why Gryffindor? It wasn't like she didn't like the hat's decision. It was probably her favourite house to be honest. But did she really deserve it? She had never considered herself as brave even if the hat had said she was. She had never done anything remotely courageous or heroic in her entire life!

"I'm glad you're a Gryffindor!" Miriam said to her with an honest smile as she moved aside to let her sit.

"Yeah… I guess I'm glad too." Arya knew she didn't sound very convincing and Miriam seemed to notice this too.

"Don't worry about your parents," she muttered in a sympathetic tone. "Mine didn't react half as badly as I expected." Arya had almost forgotten the girl was a Dolohov. She gave her a simple smile; truth was she couldn't care less about what the Prince family would think of her sorting. In fact it sort of cheer her up… messing around with their perfectly pure-blooded Slytherin heritage. Besides they hadn't disinherited Cadell, so how harsh could they be on her?

"Arya let me introduce you to the other girls on our year." Miriam continued talking whilst the first years entered the Great Hall. Arya saw Eileen walking alone at the end of the group and felt a sudden protective urge towards the girl. She just looked so small and naive. "Arya?" She turned her attention away from Eileen to look at the girls Miriam was talking about. There were three of them, including the dark skinned witch she had already met on the carriage, Sinistra or something.

"This is Laurentia Selwyn," Miriam pointed at the blonde girl that was right on front of her, she had pretty brown eyes and her hair was styled in the latest fashion of the forties. The girl smiled at her and said "I have always wanted to meet you. Your brother is such a sweetheart!" Arya laughed at this. It seemed Cadell had an admirer.

"And this is Lorelai Potter," Arya's laugh died as soon as she heard the name of the brunette girl that was sitting right next to Laurentia. She could spot a resemblance, she supposed. Same black hair and same strong eyebrows. Though she couldn't be directly related to the boy who lived, as the Potter name needed to be carried by a man to survive through the generations.

"Do you have any brothers?" Arya asked the girl hoping she didn't sound like a complete creep. The Potter girl snorted at this, as if her question was too stupid.

"Well obviously you must have heard of my brother Charlus. He works as an Auror at the Ministry," she said with a tone that Arya couldn't quite distinguish, was the girl proud or jealous? Or maybe both?

"Right yeah, I just wasn't sure if you were related to him," Arya tried to fix her obvious mistake, but judging by the girl's face she was only making it worse.

"Of course I'm related to him. I am a Potter." The commanding voice the girl used reminded Arya of how Walburga Black had ordered everyone around in the Prince manor. But she was not about to judge a relative of Harry Potter merely because the girl was proud of her family. After all that wasn't even a bad thing…

Luckily she avoided replying as the sorting began at last and all the chattering ceased around the Great Hall. Though Arya barely paid attention to the sorting, she recognised a few of the names that were called, but none that were extremely important. Then Eileen was next, but Arya new already the girl was destined to be a Slytherin, and she was proven right when the hat announced its decision and the house of the snakes applauded its new acquisition. Deep inside Arya had wanted to be in the same house the young girl was in, mainly to keep an eye on her; she didn't know why she felt so protective of someone who was practically a stranger.

When the feat finally started Arya ate as much as she could, not bothering much about her table manners, though she never did actually.

She had been really hungry and everything tasted so deliciously that she did not wish to open her mouth for any other action that did not include putting food inside it. So instead of joining her classmates' conversation Arya simply listened to them. They were talking about Frank Sinatra's latest hit; apparently the man was actually a wizard.

Arya sighed tiredly, not caring much about the topic. Her mother had once told her she was way too quiet for a girl her age and that she needed to socialise more, but through the years she realised that making friends was harder than it looked, especially in new and strange environments.

However, her lack of socialising skills had turned her into quite a great observer. She loved watching people, even if that sounded a bit disturbing. But she did it because people tend to do the strangest things when they think no one is paying them attention. Arya smiled as she noticed that Laurentia Selwyn liked to stroke her blonde curls every time someone talked to her, the girl probably did it unconsciously, but it was still sort of funny.

Arya turned her gaze towards the other tables, she saw a Hufflepuff boy sitting alone that seemed to enjoy turning his pumpkin pie into a different colour every time before he took a bite. And she also saw a small Slytherin girl that was playing with a pair of forks as if they were dolls. Arya smiled softly at her childishness and moved her gaze away from the girl and up the Slytherin table.

She felt her heart skip a beat the moment his eyes found hers. His cold brown eyes captivated her completely; she could not stop looking at him even when she knew it wasn't the smartest thing. The way he was looking back at her should have scared her… and it did, but it also intrigued her. He wasn't glaring at her or anything; in fact his expression was polite and calm. But she knew there was monster lurking under his perfectly composed mask, and that alarmed her way more than any glaring could.

Arya wondered what would happen to her if someone like Tom Riddle figured out who she really was, because she was certain the boy was intelligent and cunning enough to do it if she wasn't extremely careful. She needed to talk to Dumbledore as soon as possible. The weight of her situation was way too much for her to carry it alone. She had never been a quick problem solver and she was starting to feel afraid and overwhelmed with everything.

Out of the sudden she heard a shrill, bone chilling cackle that completely shook away her ruminations. Startled, Arya turned her head to look behind her back, where she had heard the horrible sound, but the only thing she saw was the darkness behind the window and the few raindrops that fell over it.

"What was that noise?" she asked Miriam who had been talking with the Potter girl about the new security regulations. Miriam looked at her with confusion.

"What noise Arya?"

Arya chose not to answer her and simply went back to the rests of her food. That noise had been so horrible that everyone would have had to notice it, and if Miriam didn't even know what she was referring to, then it must have been because she truly hadn't heard it. But that only meant that either Arya had imagined it or something had prevented the others from hearing it. Was she going insane or something?

She spent the rest of feast completely still, not even feeling in the mood to finish her plate anymore, and then followed Miriam out of the Great Hall with the rest of the students. She really wanted to get to the dormitories, not only because it would be incredible to see the Gryffindor common room but also because she came to the conclusion that what she probably needed was sleeping.

And maybe if she was lucky enough that night she might even rest properly, without any nightmares about dark wizards and horrible screeches. Though she doubted that would be the case.

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><p><em>I know that Tom and Arya didn't interact so much in this chapter, but I promise you that will change in the next one. I just don't want to rush things over, or make Tom out of character.<em>

_ If you have some time for feedback I would appreciate it greatly._


	6. High Expectations

Chapter six is here! And with some Tom/Arya interaction as I promised, even if it's only at the end. There will be more of that in the next chapter, I can assure you that.

Also after the next chapter the story's pacing will change quite a lot. Things have been going slowly for now but that's only because these first chapters are what you could call introductory.

Anyways I hope you like this chapter, and maybe you could spare a couple of minutes to review it.

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels. I only own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p><span>Chapter 6. High Expectations.<span>

If there was one thing Arya truly loved about Hogwarts it had to the food. She had been in such a bad mood the previous night that she hadn't been able to fully appreciate it; but that morning she felt completely rested and ready to seize the day. And now she could definitely assure her scrambled eggs and sausages tasted heavenly.

She was eating by herself at the Gryffindor table, having woken up very early that day. Arya was not a morning person so she had felt very surprised but in a sort of a pleasant way. She wanted to take this opportunity to talk to Dumbledore before the day even began.

However not even the famous professor had arrived yet at the Great Hall. So Arya kept enjoying her breakfast while she thought of how truly strange it had been for her to have woken up so early.

She looked around the Great Hall as a new group of students entered; they were some boisterous Hufflepuffs that seemed very excited about the start of a new year. And then right behind them Arya watched as Tom Riddle walked in, his handsome face full of annoyance, probably because of all the noise the Hufflepuffs were making.

He moved quickly towards the Slytherin table, his hair flawlessly combed to the side and his robes looking just as impeccable and completely free of wrinkles. Arya didn't think it was possible for anyone to be so picture-perfect without looking like a complete swot. The boy didn't bother to look at anyone as he sat down, his rigid back facing Arya.

She wondered why she had been unlucky enough to get stuck in that precise decade. Why couldn't she go to a nicer time? The Marauders' era for instance. But oh no, of course she had to be trapped in a castle with an adolescent Voldemort. _'Who the bloody hell decided for that to be my fate anyway!?'_

"Is this seat taken?" a familiar voice said to her. Arya looked up to see Cadell smiling at her.

"Oh yeah I'm sorry but I'm sitting here with all my invisible friends as you can obviously see." She replied not being able to help herself. Cadell's smile widened as he sat down in front of her, completely blocking Riddle from her sight.

"If Ganieda was here she would surely tell you how horrible sarcasm is, and how very unladylike you are for using it."

"Well I'm lucky she is not here then." Arya took a last bite of her toast before she pushed her plate aside. It was then that she saw professor Dumbledore finally entering the Great Hall. She gathered all her things and stood up regardless of Cadell's surprised and sad face.

"Where are you going? I just sat here…"

Arya looked down at him and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm terribly sorry Cadell but there's something I need to do and it can't wait." She saw a group of Hufflepuff girls flushing and talking as they looked at her 'brother' and it made Arya smirk. "Besides I think your female housemates would rather you to have breakfast with them."

Cadell looked horrified at her, as his cheeks became a dark pink colour. "I don't even want to know what you are implying sister."

Arya couldn't help teasing the boy every once in a while, he was just too proper and naïve for his own good, and that made it all more funny. "See you later mate." She left the Gryffindor table with the smirk still on her face, and then moved quickly towards the Slytherin one where Dumbledore was talking to a very chubby man who she deduced was professor Slughorn.

She knew it would be rude and improper to interrupt their conversation, but she also knew her business with Dumbledore was a lot more important than any sort of stupid thing Slughorn could ever want to discuss. And also Arya had never been what one would consider a person with good manners, not that she was very proud if this.

"Professor Dumbledore!" She exclaimed as she got closer to where the two men were standing.

Dumbledore turned around to see who was calling his name and smiled when he realised it was Arya. "Good morning Miss Prince, I trust you are liking Hogwarts so far."

"Yes everything is… delightful." Arya replied with honesty, and also noticed Slughorn was looking at her with a curious expression on his round face. "But I would really like to talk to you in private sir."

"Well maybe you could come to my office later this afternoon Miss Prince as right now I need to hand the schedules to my students. As a matter of fact I have yours right here, usually students are supposed to choose their N.E.W.T.S schedule during their sixth year, but as you were home schooled your parents have taken the liberty of writing the school a letter with all the courses they wish for you to take." Arya groaned at this, she didn't really planed on staying at Hogwarts but it annoyed her to know that the Princes wouldn't even let her choose what classes to take; they probably already had a career planned for her and everything. Or what was even worst… a husband. "Of course if there is something you would like to change about your schedule I would be more than happy to help you." Dumbledore winked at her, and Arya grinned at his kind and generous personality. She wished some of her teachers at her old college were at least a little like him.

Dumbledore did a quick search between all the parchments he was holding on his hand and then gave Arya the one that belonged to her.

Arya was apparently taking six N.E.W.T level core classes and an elective one. From what she could remember of the books, if she passed them all those classes with good grades she would have a lot of job choices. But that didn't matter because she wasn't staying. She took another glance at the little parchment and she noticed Arithmancy was the elective one. Arya hated mathematics and everything related to it beyond reason, she was just terrible at it. Just in case she was going to be stuck in Hogwarts for little longer than intended she had to make sure she wasn't going to waste her time composing complex number charts.

"Could I change Arithmancy for another elective?" She asked Dumbledore with a shy smile. The old professor laughed under his breath as he took out his wand and pointed it towards her parchment, waiting for Arya to continue. "I think Ancient Runes would fit me more," she said after a moment of deliberation, and she watched in awe how the letters that formed the word Arithmancy dispersed momentarily to write the name of her new choice. "Thank you professor!"

"You are very welcomed Miss Prince."

"Miss _Prince_… as in relation to Mortimer Prince the famous Potion-Brewer?" Arya heard a voice say behind Dumbledore's figure. She had almost forgotten about Slughorn for a moment, and now the Potion master was looking at her with obvious interest. Truth was she had no bloody idea who Mortimer Prince was or if she was even supposed to be related to him. She started to mumble incoherently trying to find the correct words to say, but luckily for Arya Dumbledore saved her day again.

"Yes Horace, Mortimer is in fact Arya's grandfather." Dumbledore's knowing smile meant he knew how appealing this sounded to Slughorn, and she couldn't help panicking at this. What if she was terrible at potion brewing? "Miss Prince may I introduce you to Professor Horace Slughorn, he teaches Potions."

Of course Arya already knew all this but she shook Slughorn's hand nonetheless, with the politeness that was required. "It's a pleasure to meet you professor, I have heard a lot of great things about you," or she had read a lot about him to be precise.

She may not have been very proud of herself at times, but Arya had always been sort of sycophant, at least since she had learned this was the only way one could win people's favour. Men and women loved to be flattered and praised, especially for the smallest things, and she had used this to her advantage several times. Slughorn was no exception and he had taken the bait just as she had expected. In case she sucked at potions Arya needed to have a plan B.

"Really? A lot of great things huh?" Slughorn looked very pleased at this.

"I'm sure we all have heard great things about you Horace, you have more than a few accomplishments after all." Dumbledore said as he organised the parchments on his hand one more time before bowing to them in a farewell sort of gesture. "I am terribly sorry but I must go now, Miss Prince if there's anything else you need do not hesitate to ask me. I sincerely wish you both a fantastic day, it's quite sunny after all…" and so Arya turned around to see how Dumbledore walked away rambling strange things under his warm smile. She didn't even have a chance to tell him of her situation. It was the second time she wasted such an opportunity. Nevertheless she did not have a lot of time to regret this as she heard a polite and cold voice talk right behind her back.

"I was hoping I would see you here." Arya turned around surprise as she knew very well who that voice belonged to, and she was not mistaken. Tom Riddle was standing right beside her; however he was not directing his words to her. "I hope you enjoyed your summer holiday professor," he continued saying to Slughorn, who looked ridiculously thrilled to see the boy.

"Tom my boy! Oh I certainly did! I was invited to spend part of the summer at my good friend Nicolas Flamel's house in Paris. I have talked to him about you my boy, as I remembered you told me how you were very interested in meeting him."

Arya snorted at this. "Well that is no surprise…"

Both men turned to look at her and Arya left her jaw drop as she realised her slip-up. She really needed to work on her attitude. "I… I mean… well… it is no surprise because… well it is Nicolas Flamel! Anyone would be honoured to meet him. You must be even more successful than I thought professor, if you have him as your friend." She hoped that would fix her mistake, and was glad when she saw Slughorn smile happily. That was not the case with Riddle though, who was looking at her intently.

"Tom this is the lovely Miss Arya Prince, she is the granddaughter of the great Potioneer Mortimer Prince." Arya really wished Slughorn had forgotten about her famous 'ancestor' that way if she sucked at potions it wouldn't be so embarrassing. It didn't seem that was going to be the case though. And now even Tom Riddle knew about it.

He looked at her with his impassive brown eyes while he put a very fake smile on his sculptured face. "Yes I believe I have met Miss Prince a few times before."

"Fantastic!" Slughorn said with joviality at the same time they all heard as someone's stomach grumbled with might. Slughorn laughed at this. "Dear goodness, it seems I have neglected my stomach long enough. I believe I will see you both after breakfast. You have Double Potions with me in your first period or I'm wrong?"

Arya's shocked eyes looked down on her schedule only to feel completely mortified as she realised Slughorn was right.

"Yes professor I will see you then." Tom Riddle said with his usual politeness as he started to retreat. "I hope you have a nice breakfast."

Riddle barely spared Arya a glance as he walked away from the scene only moments after Slughorn's departure.

Arya sighed in desperation; everything was going horribly wrong that morning. Not only had she been unable to explain things to Dumbledore, but now she also had to spend the first one hour and a half of class with the future Voldemort and Slughorn's high expectations of her supposed inherited Potioneer talent.

And to make things worst it also had to be Monday. As if things hadn't been bad enough already…


	7. Interrogatory

So I had to cut this chapter into two because it was way too long. You'll probably be reading the second part around Friday, so don't worry. Anyway I hope you like it. And please review!

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels. I only own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p><span>Chapter 7. Interrogatory.<span>

Arya had absolutely no idea where to find Slughorn's classroom, so she opted for following the old professor out of the Great Hall, dreading the whole time what was to come. She had no knowledge of potion making, or anything magic-related to be precise.

But she was going to have to face her current situation, and she was going to try to do it with her head held high. Optimism had never been one of her strong qualities but Arya couldn't help feeling even a little hopeful that things wouldn't go as bad as she feared.

Slughorn didn't notice she was following him as many other students were walking in the same direction, and for that she felt relieved; it wasn't as if she disliked the Potions master, but he made her feel a little uneasy.

After a good five minute walk, they finally arrived at the part of the dungeons where the classroom was located. Some student's where already waiting for their professor, between them Arya saw Tom Riddle's disgustingly perfect face. The boy was surrounded by a group of Slytherin boys that were laughing in a very superior manner. She recognised one of them as the same red haired boy who had taunted her on the train, Mulciber. As if knowing she was thinking about him, Mulciber made eye contact and Arya saw him smirk at her in a horrible way. She immediately turned her head around and was grateful when Slughorn opened the door and the students dispersed inside the classroom.

"Arya!" Just before she had entered, she heard someone calling her name right behind her, and as Arya turned around she saw Miriam who was being followed closely by Lorelai Potter. "You're taking Potions too?" Miriam continued saying with a big smile on her pink lips. Lorelai glared at the ginger girl.

"Well of course she's taking this class Miriam why else would she be here right now?" Lorelai seemed to be one of those people who were easily annoyed, but despite that she had a little smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Let's all go inside before Slughorn decides to take more points from me today."

Arya decided she rather not know why Slughorn had already taken some points away from the Gryffindor house, especially if the reason had anything to do with Lorelai. She wanted to avoid angering the girl as much as possible.

The potions' classroom was a very large room of an oval shape, with several small work tables and cauldrons that were accommodated around the whole place. Miriam and Lorelai walked towards the closest table on the left side; Arya made a point of following them but was stopped by Slughorn's irritating voice.

"No no, Miss Prince, you'll be working with Miss Pendragon and Mr Rosier."

As a reaction to his words a petite brunette girl stood up in indignation. "But professor! I am the one working with Glinda and Gaston!" the girl gestured to the other two students sitting at her table. It would be a huge understatement to say both of them were some of the most beautiful people Arya had ever seen in her entire life.

The girl named Glinda had golden curls of hair that cascaded down her back and a face that could have belonged to a princess. And the boy, Gastien or something like that, didn't fall short on the physical department either. He was sporting an elegant low ponytail on his light brown hair, and he had strong masculine features that contrasted with his soft blue eyes. Arya tried not to stare at the pair too much, but it seemed obvious to her why the short brunette girl had wanted to remain by their side.

"You, Miss Fudge, are going to work with Miss Dolohov and Miss Potter from now on. I'm sure you won't mind. Now if you all please open your books to page..."

But the girl obviously did mind, and Arya saw how she angrily grabbed her things and moved towards the table on the other side, all the time glaring daggers at Arya, but it wasn't as if she had asked to be placed with the King and Queen of Perfectionland.

Sighing, Arya dragged her bag through the floor until she reached her new table. She had expected to see at least a few imperfections on their faces as she stood closer to the pair now, but to her utter disappointment there seemed to be none. The two of them looked like they had been painted by bloody angels.

"Hey I'm Arya Prince." She tried not to sound too awkward.

Both of them looked at her with polite smiles on their faces, and Arya couldn't tell yet if they were fake or not.

"You're a Prince then, I know your family. But I supposed you have heard of mine too," the girl said to her in a haughty voice. "I'm Glinda Pendragon, you know as in the great king Arthur Pendragon. He's my ancestor."

Arya simply stared at the girl, trying to remember if King Arthur had even been a wizard, but she didn't wish to say anything just in case her limited information was wrong. Glinda mistook her thoughtful glance as awe and seemed to be pleased by it.

"It's funny you're not a Slytherin, you're a Pureblood after all." Glinda kept trying to talk to her when Arya remained quiet. "Oh and how rude of me. This is Gaston Rosier, you have probably heard of his family name as well." The boy nodded shortly at her.

"Yes I have..." The name Rosier did seem familiar but not for the same reasons Glinda was thinking of.

"Well what are you waiting for? Sit down." It was obvious the girl was used to ordering people around, and even if that really bothered Arya she only wanted to avoid any possible confrontations during her stay at Hogwarts, so she did as told.

"How come this is your first year at Hogwarts Arya? Shouldn't it be your last?" Glinda continued with her interrogation as she flipped her hair to the side, like a model from a shampoo advertisement.

"I was taught at home..." Arya didn't wish to tell people more than it was necessary, she feared she might give herself away if she said too much.

"Oh well that must not have been very fun. But why did you decide to come to Hogwarts this year? You might as well have stayed at home?" Arya thought it was strange the way this girl kept asking her these questions, as she didn't seem to be interested at all in her answers.

"I just wanted to see what the big fuss was all about."

Arya started taking out her book and utensils from her bag, it was in that moment that Glinda decided to ask her another very strange question, and this time she did look interested. "So tell me Arya, how is it that you know Tom?"

"Huh?" Arya was astonished as she tried to register what the girl was asking her.

"You know, Tom Riddle. I saw you chatting with him during breakfast." Glinda was trying to sound as if she hardly cared, but Arya knew better, that envious gleam hiding behind her round chocolate eyes was something that Arya was well familiarised with.

"Well I would hardly call what we were doing as chatting, and if you actually saw us then you must have also noticed professor Slughorn was also standing right there with us."

Arya then tried to ignore the girl as she copied down the instructions that Slughorn had written on the chalkboard with his wand, but she could still feel her eyes on the back of her head. She was grateful though, that Glinda didn't try to resume their '_conversation_'.

Apparently they were supposed to start brewing the Polyjuice Potion that day; of course they couldn't have started the term with something more easy. It was just her luck as always.

Gaston got up to bring the ingredients they were going to need and she noticed that Glinda had lost interest in her already as she was now talking excitedly with a girl from the table behind them.

But contrary to what Arya had believed, Potions turned out to be easier than expected; it had been as if she had always known how to brew them. However she had also felt something very strange as they prepared the ingredients. Arya had the feeling something inside her was telling her what she needed to do, and she also felt like someone was looking at her the whole time, exactly how it had been the previous night during the banquet when she had heard the screechy noise.

"This looks wonderful! Well done all of you!" Slughorn congratulated the trio as his head still hovered over the cauldron. "I knew I wasn't mistaken about you Miss Prince."

Before Arya could reply anything a melodic voice followed. "Yes Arya turned out to be a very efficient workmate, sir." Glinda said smiling at her, which surprised Arya very much. The three of them had barely spared a few words during the whole class, and she still hadn't figured out what type of people the two Slytherins truly were.

"I... thank you." She said shrugging a little, most of the time she secretly liked when people praised her. But in that moment, Arya could only feel guilt. For some reason she felt as if her newfound potion abilities weren't really hers.

Slughorn didn't seem to notice her discomfort, as he smiled one last time at her before moving on to see the other potions in the room.

"He's probably going to invite you to the Slugclub now." Arya was even more surprised to hear Gaston Rosier's voice. While Glinda and Arya had shared a short conversation at the beginning of the class, Gaston had remained quite as tomb during the whole time. Arya didn't know what to say back and in her nervousness she turned her head to the side breathing deeply. As she did this she noticed a pair of brown eyes that were looking in her direction at that precise moment. It felt like a _deja vu_, as Tom Riddle maintained his gaze with a blank expression on his face, and seconds later Arya was forced to break the contact.

"All right students, we will be continuing this potion on the next classes. You can leave now." Slughorn said as he headed back to his own table. "Wait Miss Prince, if you may..."

Arya groaned just as she was about to leave the classroom and instead walked toward where Slughorn was standing. "Yes professor?" Her voice sounding nervous for some reason.

"Oh do not worry my dear, you did excellent today, that's why I would really like it if you could come to one of the little gatherings I like to host for my students every once in a while." His smile was so broad that it made his red cheeks look like the ones from a clown. "The first one will be this Friday evening, at six o'clock."

"I'll try to be there, sir." She said even though it was an obvious lie. Arya hoped that by Friday she would already be at home, with her brother and father. It had been so long since she had last seen them.

"Marvellous! Well then, my dear, I won't distract you any longer. Go on, to your next class."

Arya nodded respectfully, and when she turned around she thought for a half a second that she had seen those same cold brown eyes looking at her from the door. But she must have imagined it for there was none one standing there.

XXXX

"Well then, are you ever going to reveal to me what you found out?"

Tom Riddle was a man of patience, but only when the situation required him to be. He didn't consent to being patient towards people that had sworn to serve him. In truth he wished he didn't have to be patient with anyone at all, but maintaining his perfect façade towards his '_authority_' figures was something he deemed very important. For the time being at least.

It was for this exact reason that he was glaring impatiently at Gaston Rosier, as he paced around the deserted Slytherin common room. Tom knew how arrogant Rosier could be, the boy thought that in his own way he was better than anyone; and from all his followers Rosier was the one that often challenged him the most. But this never went far enough for him to defy Tom completely. The boy knew his place, and he also knew Tom was not a person you could fool around with.

"She is a pureblood, my lord, home-schooled for the past six years. She said she was curious about Hogwarts and that's why she decided to come here this year."

Tom's glare hardened at this. "I already knew as much Rosier. Are you going to tell me you did not discover anything else? Did I convince Slughorn to place her with you for nothing at all then?"

Rosier looked very uncomfortable at Tom's deadly tone and he started stuttering, "I... I told Glinda to ask her questions. But the girl... she seemed hesitant to tell her anything important... my lord."

"If I had wanted Pendragon to be the one to interrogate the Prince girl I would have gone directly to her, but I asked you, Rosier." Tom's voice seemed to harden with every word he spoke. "You only needed to charm the stupid girl, but I am sure that you did not even care enough to direct a single word at her. It seems I have to do everything myself around here."

Rosier looked speechless for a second, but the boy recovered his posture very quickly. "I am terribly sorry, my lord. I promise you I will not disappoint you next time."

Tom looked away from the boy, his jaw firmly closed, he was too angry in that moment. One of the things he despised the most in people was their incompetence to do anything right. He had entrusted Rosier with very easy task and the boy had failed miserably.

"If I may ask, my lord, why are you so interested in this girl?"

There was almost nothing in this world that could surprise Tom Riddle, but Rosier had succeeded in shocking him with his sudden nerve. Nonetheless Tom didn't plan to answer him. That day Rosier had proven to be less than worthy, and even so, Tom would never tell anyone the motives. How could he explain such a thing without people mocking him for it? Tom didn't even believe much in seers, and he was fervently sure that he was not one of them. But the vision that had plagued him that August night still haunted him. He couldn't explain to his followers why he knew that Prince girl was hiding something very strange. He couldn't even explain it to himself.

It shouldn't really matter of course; she was just another foolish girl. The real reason why he was so interest in finding the truth about her was because he liked knowing everything he could, and it annoyed him beyond reason not knowing something as strange as this. He wanted to find out why he had 'dreamt' about the girl before he had even met her. And he wanted to find out why she appeared to know him from before as well.

Tom was many things, but incompetent was not one of them. He would never fail like Rosier had.


	8. Second Impressions

Well would you look at that! I updated sooner than expected. But I wouldn't get used to it if I were you...

Thanks to all of you who have reviewed this story, I wish I could reply to the anonymous reviewers as well.

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels. I only own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p><span>Chapter 8. Second Impressions.<span>

It had been almost three days now since she had arrived at Hogwarts and because of a series of inconveniences Arya had yet to talk to professor Dumbledore in private.

Her first day had passed by swiftly after Potions class. But only until later that day did Arya start suspecting how really wrong things were with her.

It didn't matter everything that had transpired in the past days, Arya Roberts was not Arya Prince, she didn't belong in that world, and she was not a true witch. She barely knew a couple of magical things and only because she had read the books, but Arya never had a real wizarding education. She was not supposed to know most spells.

Of course it had been strange how she had turned out to be so good at potions, but Arya didn't particularly pay any attention to it then. It wasn't until her Charms class when it had been required of her to put a set of protection wards around her desk that she noticed how every single knowledge she needed was right there inside her mind. She simply knew it all, and that scared her. It didn't help that she kept feeling like someone was watching and that became even stronger every time she did magic.

Arya had meant to go straight to Dumbledore after that, but she had been distracted by Eileen whom she had found weeping in an empty classroom. It appeared that some of Eileen's Slytherin classmates liked to bully her and that angered and pained Arya. She wanted to figure out a way to avenge her 'sister' without her getting caught.

Apart from that situation, Monday went by without any other casualties. Arya spent her Herbology class talking and joking around with Cadell, and in the night she had had Astronomy; unluckily for her Aurora Sinistra was the only other Gryffindor with whom she shared that class. Now, Sinistra was a very cold and serious girl and her presence usually intimidated Arya, but she knew however, that there must also be a reason for the girl to be friends with Miriam.

Tuesday turned out to be even more boring than Monday. The only mildly interesting thing was her Defence Against the Dark Arts class that she had in the morning, a class they also shared with the Slytherins.

Tom Riddle hadn't bothered to even acknowledge her presence during it and the staring contests had ceased. For some odd reason that had made Arya feel slightly… disappointed, and she couldn't figure out why. She should have felt relieved that the future dark lord was staying as far away from her as possible.

Arya had tried again that Tuesday to speak with professor Dumbledore, but the old wizard was nowhere to be found, and she was beginning to feel anxious.

It was during that rainy Wednesday morning that Arya found herself in the library during her free period, searching for any books that might have some information about situations similar to hers. There didn't seem to be anywhere of course, at least not in the section that was open to the students.

Arya sighed with frustration as she sat down in the desk that was nearest to her, and she eyed longingly the restricted section.

"I could help you get in."

Arya spun around at the sound of the taciturn voice, feeling surprised when she saw Tom Riddle smiling kindly at her, though it was obviously only part of his usual façade.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked, confused by his presence and his words. She could see something similar to annoyance gleaming in his eyes, but the smile never left his face.

"I said I could help you get in. I mean the restricted section of course."

Arya looked horrified as he sat down on the chair in front of hers. She remembered then that Voldemort possessed the ability to read minds, and she wondered for a moment if he now knew all of her secrets. She was so afraid that she couldn't even move. Riddle kept looking at her, expecting her to respond to his comment, but Arya had forgotten how to speak.

"I do wonder however, why a lady such as you, would care to read anything that is inside that section." Riddle's smile turned into a smirk, and Arya opened her mouth hoping something intelligent might come out of it, but instead she found herself blabbering stupidly.

"I… I mean I don't know what you're talking about. When did I say I wanted to get inside that place? What… what could possibly make you think that? And why are you even talking to me? You don't know me, and I don't know you. I mean I don't even stare at you anymore…"

Arya had no idea what had possessed her to say such a thing, but it was too late now as she bit her tongue forcefully, the taste of blood flowing through her mouth. Riddle looked amused at this, but he waited a moment before saying anything.

"I believe we might have started our relationship, as the saying says, with the wrong foot, Miss Prince. I am a sorry if your first impression of me was not the best one."

Arya looked awkwardly at him, knowing that every single word that came out of his perfect mouth was lie. Though he didn't know that her first impression of him had nothing to do with how they had first met. Or maybe he did know…

"Why don't we start all over?" He extended his hand towards her, and Arya ogled it with mistrust. Should she shake it? She knew she could never trust him, she wasn't that stupid. But should she pretend to be fooled by his charming ways just as everyone else. Maybe he wouldn't bother her again if she did.

After a moment of deliberation, Arya extended her own hand towards his. His skin was warmer to the touch than she had expected. She saw him smile at her, and Arya was amazed by how innocent and young he looked. The boy had some nice acting skills.

"I wasn't planning on entering the restricted section, I was only curious about what kind of books one might find in there." Arya hoped she sounded convincing enough. She figured that if someone as Tom Riddle had already realised her secret he would have confronted her already. So perhaps he didn't know.

"Only the best books of course, you would be surprised by how much more magic there is that they do not dare to teach us."

Arya was a bit stunned by his words, but perhaps Riddle thought that because she belonged to an old pureblood family it meant that she liked or at least tolerated the Dark Arts.

Though he hadn't really said anything too obvious, and maybe she was making a mountain out of a molehill.

The way he was staring at her unnerved Arya, and she felt a shiver running down her spine the moment she thought of whom this handsome boy she was sitting with truly was, and about all the horrible things he would do one day.

But no matter how much he frightened her she couldn't help being totally entranced by him. Her eyes were glued to his, and they were sitting so close to each other that she could see all the details of his face. She noted how his eyes weren't completely brown and dark as she had once thought, for there were some visible green patterns surrounding the pupils. They were not Voldemort's eyes either.

"They aren't red…" she thought aloud without noticing.

"I'm sorry but what things aren't red?" he sounded a little confused but also uninterested.

"Oh nothing, never mind me… I just like saying meaningless things all the time. Horrible habit I know…" She stood up clumsily from the table, knocking her chair down in the process. Arya picked it up feeling more and more stupid as the seconds passed.

"Are you going somewhere?" Tom said standing up as well.

"Well yeah, I have Transfiguration next period."

"I will accompany you to the classroom then."

"No!" she shouted out of simple reaction, which only caused Tom to look at her as if she had gone mental, she tried to fix this, "I mean… Why? Why would you want to do that?" She knew there had to be a good reason for Riddle to want to walk her to her class. He didn't just do things out of a good heart.

His face seemed to harden a little as he talked next, it seemed to Arya he wanted to yell at her in annoyance but he knew better than to lose his composure. "As I have already stated I wish to start things over with you Miss Prince, perhaps get to know a little more about you… and your life. Is rather peculiar that you desired to come to Hogwarts this year, after being taught at home for so many years. You could even say it's a counterproductive decision."

"Why is everyone so interested in knowing why I decided to come to Hogwarts huh? First Miss Goldilocks and now you too!"

Truth was Arya found it rather odd as well. She had no idea why Arya Prince hadn't preferred to go to Hogwarts until that year, so she couldn't answer that persisted question in an honest way. She remember that in her first day in this world, Eileen had told her that it had been their parents decision to stop teaching them at home, so maybe they had been the ones that didn't allow her to go to Hogwarts in the first place. That however wasn't too much of an explanation as Cadell had always attended the school.

"Miss Goldilocks?" Tom said with smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, perhaps he found it amusing that she had a nickname for Glinda. "And I am simply curious. I was only trying to make some conversation, forgive me if have made you uncomfortable." But the apologetic look he was giving her looked more like an insulting gesture to Arya.

Arya sighed deeply; she needed to get away from that boy before she did something stupid that could anger him.

"I really have to go…"

Arya didn't give him time to reply, turning around and walking away as fast as she could. She was trying to get out of her mind that angry sneer that she had seen crossing his features for only a split second before she had left.

That had been such a surreal and strange conversation.

XXXX

To Arya's utter discontent the Transfiguration class from that day had been cancelled due to professor Dumbledore being away from the castle doing Merlin knows what. Though that explained why Arya hadn't seen him the previous day either. _'Maybe he is searching for a way to defeat Grindelwald…'_

Arya was on her way to the common room when she saw the strangest thing.

A couple was arguing silently in a corner, they hadn't noticed Arya as they seemed to be too preoccupied with their conversation. One of them was Mulciber and the other one was Lorelai Potter. And even if they seemed to in the middle of a dispute, the two of them were standing too close to each other for it to be simple house-rivalry fight.

Arya knew that whatever they were arguing about was none of her business, and that overhearing was not a polite thing to do. But she was only human, and the curiosity was killing her.

Silently she put a disillusionment charm on herself, feeling once again that same unnerving emotion of someone watching her. But she paid it no attention, and started walking closer to the pair.

"You know very well what I'm talking about!" Lorelai was pointing an accusatory finger close to his face, and Arya saw with fear how Mulciber grabbed her wrist in one angry movement. "Let go of me Darrence! You are hurting me!"

Arya wasn't sure if she ought to reveal herself in that moment and intervene before the situation turned any worst. But she still wanted to know what those two could have been fighting about. Maybe that made her a bad person…

"Don't go around playing your innocent act on me Lorelai! I know that you have been hiding things from me too… and also from the dark lord."

It would have been impossible for Arya to avoid the little yelp that escaped her lips. Both Mulciber and Lorelai turned to look around in her direction, and Arya held her breath. She couldn't believe that Lorelai bloody Potter was a Death Eater, or that she had any sort of relation to them. Of course the girl was a pureblood… but she was also a Gryffindor, friends with Miriam, and a Potter.

"Did you hear that?" Lorelai asked.

"It was probably that stupid Myrtle, I'm glad she is dead, serves her right for being an annoying mudblood, but I think she is even more annoying as a ghost if that's even possible."

Mulciber chuckled grimly and Lorelai glared at him but not because of the horrible thing he had just said, which disappointed Arya even more. "Don't change the subject Darrence; I haven't been hiding anything from you or the dark lord. I would never dare, you know me! But I just can't forgive you this time, why didn't you tell me about the meeting?"

"Because I simply couldn't! Tom only wanted his most trustworthy and faithful followers to be there; in fact he would be very angry if he finds out that you know now about it."

"Are you saying he doesn't trust me anymore? What about you then? Don't you trust me?"

Mulciber looked uncomfortable at that. "Well to be fair you are always talking to that mudblood of Hardy Brown, and that blood traitor Selwyn girl."

"I have to pretend Darrence! As a matter fact I would have expected the dark lord to understand that, he does more pretending around here than anyone else. But you do not doubt his intentions of course…"

"How dare you say such a thing?!"

But Arya didn't stay long enough to hear Lorelai explain how she dared. She had already heard way too much and she felt disgusted with the girl she had considered to be a good person. How could she be part of something like that? Arya wondered how Miriam and the rest of the girls would react if they found out. But of course Arya couldn't tell them, or else she would have to explain about Voldemort and how she even knew about him, and that would only screw things up for her.

Maybe that made her a coward. Maybe she didn't deserve to be a Gryffindor. Maybe she was no better than Lorelai.

There was one thing she was sure of though. She needed to speak to Dumbledore now more than ever.

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><p><strong>If you can spare a second to review I would be eternally grateful to you.<strong>

**Oh and also just out of curiosity, who did you like better as Tom Riddle, Christian Coulson (COS) or Frank Dillane (HBP)?**


	9. Doubts and Suspicions

Yes I know it's been like a year (a very busy and strange year) but here it is. I'll try to not go missing for such a long time again. Hope you like the chapter, though it's mostly some insight into Tom's strange mind and his relationships with some people.

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognisable from the Harry Potter novels. I only own the plot from this story and my OCs.**

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><p><span>Chapter 9. Doubts and Suspicions.<span>

He had never cared much for dreaming before.

Tom was a rational man, and dreams on the other hand were never rational. They never made any sense, and were completely pointless and useless. Dreams served no purpose in anything that could be considered productive. They were just one of those meaningless things that no human could avoid.

It wasn't like Tom hated dreaming, he simply deemed it unimportant and annoying.

But lately he had been giving a lot of his daily attention to his dreams. He simply couldn't understand at all why he kept seeing the same foolish girl almost every night. It was never the same dream though, the scenarios changed continuously just like the situations, but she was always present.

Nonetheless, what really bothered Tom was that he could never decipher the meaning of these dreams. Sometimes he even forgot what they were about, which was uncanny as his memory had always been extremely resilient, a fact he was quite proud of. But the truth remained that most of the dreams became blurry once he woke up, however the one thing he could remember was the girl's face.

"Arya Prince…" Tom's lips slurred the name the moment he saw her entering the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. She had been absent from yesterday's Potion class and he hadn't even seen her previous to that during lunch. Actually Tom hadn't seen her at all since their conversation in the library yesterday morning. She hadn't appeared to be ill, and he pondered for a moment about the strangeness of her continuous absence, until he decided a second later he had more important things to attend to than thinking about a foolish girl he hardly knew. It didn't matter that her appearances in his dreams remained a mystery. He would figure that out eventually as he always did.

Tom turned around in his seat to face the front of the classroom. From the corner of his eye he could see Raleigh Lestrange, who was sitting on his left, drawing something on his parchment.

Tom didn't particularly like anyone besides himself, but if there was one person in this world that he tolerated more than anyone else it had to be Lestrange. Maybe it was because Raleigh had always been there by his side, since they had first started Hogwarts. He had never judged Tom, despite him being a boy from a muggle orphanage.

Lestrange was determined, quiet when needed, intelligent, and also ridiculously loyal to Tom. The brown haired boy had recognised from the begging everything Tom was capable of, and in turn he had always considered him to be his most valuable follower. If only there were more people in this world like Raleigh Tom wouldn't despise humanity so much.

"So who were you staring so much at?"

Tom's eyes hardened at his words, but Raleigh hadn't even looked up from his drawing. No matter all the great qualities he possessed, the boy's major flaw was undoubtedly that he fashioned Tom to be his best friend, and Tom on the contrary didn't consider anyone, not even Raleigh, good enough to be his friend, he simply did not desire any real friends. He thought of them as a useless waste of time, and a weakness.

But no matter how clear Tom tried to explain the situation to him, Raleigh still considered him his best friend, and as such every once in a while he would say something completely out of line, words that had they been said by any other one of his followers, Tom wouldn't had hesitated at all to put them in their rightful place. However on most occasions when Raleigh dared to say such a thing, Tom would just sneer at the boy or ignore him completely.

Tom possessed towards Lestrange what he considered a very extreme patience. The reason for this was that he didn't wish to spend his time reprimanding Raleigh about such little details when he knew how loyal he was to him. Besides the boy seemed to know very well when he could get away with this type of things, and when he simply couldn't.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Tom answered him after a few seconds, and his lips tightened shut once again. He was sure Raleigh would understand that this meant he was not willing to discuss what was clouding his mind.

And he was right of course, as Raleigh decided to stay quiet for the rest of the class.

In Tom's opinion the double class from that day had been a complete waste of time, as professor Merrythought had spent the entire one hour and half making them practice nonverbal defensive spells, which he already mastered better than Merrythought herself.

He despised the old boisterous witch, but that didn't stop him from smiling politely and charmingly when she congratulated him for his excellent work. He had appearances to maintain.

"What an awfully good job Tom m'boy!" Raleigh had imitated the woman's croaky voice the moment the two of them were out of her hearing reach. "Merlin's beard is she annoying!"

They were now outside the classroom, walking in direction to the dungeons.

Tom's mouth tugged a little to the side at his comment. "Really Raleigh? And here I thought you liked her class… always drawing absurd things on that parchment of yours, I can see how interested you are in passing your N.E.W.T. examination."

Raleigh snickered at this. "Come one, we both know I'm going to get a bloody Outstanding in that test, DADA is my best subject, that's why I spent my time drawing things during it, and they are not absurd… I expect you to understand art though."

"Art is useless and ridiculous."

"See, that's my point exactly." Tom saw Raleigh sigh heavily as they continued their walk. Sometimes they would have quite interesting and intellectual conversations but for the majority times he preferred when Raleigh left him to his own thoughts.

They had been walking for almost ten minutes now, as the DADA classroom was very distant from the dungeons, when Tom heard a melodic voice call out to him, he spun around to see Glinda chasing after him, but what surprised Tom was the girl that was tagging along behind her.

Arya's blue eyes met his for a second before he decided to face Glinda.

"Is everything alright Miss Pendragon?"

"Oh yes Tom, I only wanted to see if you could change my patrolling for tomorrow evening? You see I already promised Arya I was going to help her with the Potions assignment tonight, as she missed the last class."

Tom watched how the blonde girl battered her eyelashes while she toyed with her curls around her fingers. He had known Glinda since first year; she was one of those people that although bright also tended to be incredibly irresponsible at times. And he hated irresponsible people. That was the main reason he hadn't offered her a place with the Death Eaters, since the witch did possess all the other necessary qualities, she was a true pureblood, intelligent, and could also be exceedingly cunning and manipulative as she was now demonstrating. Many had even dared to suggest that she and Tom would have made the perfect couple. But he had no time for such frivolities. Besides the girl was irresponsible, and that simply could not be tolerated.

"It is Miss Prince's fault that she missed the lesson, Glinda. You should not forfeit your own obligations to help others who do as well."

"I had my own good reasons Riddle." He was startled to hear Arya's bitter voice directed at him. He had assumed the girl was going to ignore him during the whole interaction, and he was hardly ever wrong. Tom was also annoyed by the fact the girl continued to distrust him, even after he had tried to charm her the other day. "Ugh nevermind... It's ok Glinda I'll just try to find someone else kind enough to help me."

"Nonsense. I'm sure it would be alright if I skip one patrol." Glinda continued saying with a flirtatious smile on her red lips, as if that was going to convince Tom. However he was too busy scheming the perfect plan inside his head. He made a quick mental list of all the pros and cons that his plan would entail.

"You may not skip the patrol Miss Pendragon. I will be the one assisting Miss Prince with the Potions assignment." His response took everyone by surprise of course. Glinda looked as if she had been slapped in the face, the Prince girl appeared completely horrified by the idea, and Raleigh was looking at him with a knowing smile.

He had not suggested it out of a kind heard obviously. Tom didn't care in the slightest if the girl failed Potions for not handing over the assignment, it would serve her right for being so irresponsible. But no, Tom had offered his help to finally get an opportunity to interrogate the girl alone and discover whatever she could possibly be hiding, and maybe even the reason behind his strange dreams. And the best thing about this plan was that it was infallible. Once the time came she wouldn't be able to run away, and in this moment she was in no position to refuse his help, that would be only foolish on her part as he was on top of the class and it would be impossible for her to find a better tutor.

He showed off his kindest fake smile to the girls. "Will 6:30 work for you?"

Arya was still looking at him with obvious distrust and shock, which made his insides burn with irritation. He hated the fact that someone wasn't buying into his charming charade. Suddenly he notice the girl's mouth open, however what came out of it next was not what he had expected. "But dinner is at six o'clock…"

"Yes and that means you will have half an hour to eat. I'm sure that will be more than sufficient time, unless you are planning on engulfing enough food to provoke an indigestion that will keep you from attending tomorrow's Potion class as well."

"Fine! Six thirty it is then." She said rolling her eyes and not allowing him any chance to lecture her for her rude tone, she patted Glinda on the arm and thanked her shortly before she ran away on the direction both girls came from.

"Oh dear" Glinda said "well I supposed she couldn't get any better help that yours for this matter Tom. You are marvellous at Potions after all!" She winked at him one last time and then strutted away as if she were the princess of wales.

Through all their years at Hogwarts Tom had learned to tolerate Glinda's continuous flirting, and he had to admit he had also used it to his advantage on several occasions, but sometimes he just felt like choking the silly girl until she couldn't breathe through that pointy noise of hers.

"She is quite pretty you know..." Raleigh voice said looking unashamedly.

Tom sighed deeply. "Yes it's very obvious that you find her attractive Lestrange, you have been asking Glinda out since we were in third year."

But Raleigh only laughed at this. "Not Glinda! I mean, yes she is painfully beautiful of course, but I was referring to that other girl... the one you were staring at during class."

Tom stopped immediately and glared at Raleigh, warning him with his cold eyes that he was crossing the line. "I thought I made it clear before that I had no interest in discussing this matter. Besides I was not staring at her."

But Raleigh continued despite the warning. "Oh ease up Tom, I was just saying she is pretty, no harm done if you were staring at her or not."

"I could not care less about her appearance. That was not the reason I was staring at her!" Tom realised his slip up a second too late. He hated that Raleigh knew him well enough to provoke him on purpose; very few people knew that Tom was incapable of lying when he got angry and lost his temper.

"Aha! So you were staring at her!"

"Enough Raleigh!"

"I simply wish to understand why you would offer to help someone you barely know... my lord. I know you don't care about girls and that sort of thing, so I hope you can understand my curiosity." Raleigh was staring at him with a careful look. He had retreated to his submissive position when he noticed Tom's hand tightening around his wand.

Tom breathed deeply to calm himself. He still believed that Raleigh had no right meddling into his business, but he could understand the curiosity and confusion; and if he was honest with himself he would have to admit he didn't comprehend why he was feeling so defensive about this particular topic. He surely wasn't going to reveal something as deep and personal about himself as his dreams, but he could at least confide on the boy his suspicions about the Prince girl.

"I believe that girl is hiding something."

Raleigh took in his words and nodded in attention, seemingly glad that Tom hadn't hexed him into oblivion for his previous boldness.

"Alright, may I inquire why you believe that? The girl seems as any other girl to me."

"Yes, except any other girl wouldn't look at me with such distrust." Tom explained with impatience. "My point is that she is new in here, she barely knows anything about me, and on every occasion I have encountered her I have been as perfectly polite and charming as I am with all the idiotic people in this castle. But the way she looks at me… It is the exact same look that Dumbledore always gives me."

Tom could see a hint of a smile on Raleigh's lips; he wondered why he had even bothered to explain it all to him if he was not going to take it seriously. "So let's see…you are suspicious of her because she doesn't believe you are the perfect Head Boy all the teachers and students love?"

"You don't think is odd then? That a perfect stranger is dubious of my intentions?"

"Maybe, but I supposed it was bound to happen eventually Tom."

"I don't need you to agree with me Lestrange." Tom said with a commanding voice. "I know she is hiding something and I'm going to find out what it is." Raleigh sighed in resignation. "Oh and next time I say I don't want to discuss a topic, you will not question me again, are we clear about this?"

"Yes my lord."

Both boys resumed their walk towards the dungeons, but this time in complete silence.


End file.
